LONG ISLAND, NY (News 12 Long Island) — On Long Island, New York, more than a dozen sharks were spotted on Tuesday, July 4 by a drone patrol off the waters of Robert Moses State Beach.
Drone patrol saw about 50 sand sharks swimming 200 yards off the beach's shore around 3 a.m., prompting state park officials to delay the beach's opening to swimmers by about an hour and a half.
"We have more surveillance, more lifeguards out there than we've ever had in the past," said George Gorman, Long Island's Regional Director of New York State Parks.
The heightened surveillance comes after a day after a 15-year-old girl was bitten possibly by a shark while swimming at Field 3. And just hours later, three miles down the shore at Fire Island's Kismet Beach, a shark bit a 15-year-old boy while he was surfing.
Both teenagers suffered puncture wounds. The girl was treated on the beach and released to her parents, and the boy was treated at a local hospital.
"What we're hearing from the shark experts is that these bites are undoubtedly a mistake. The sharks think they're feeding on baitfish or bunker fish and that's why these are bites. They weren't really a real attack like you'd see [with] a Great White," Gorman said.
An increase in baitfish and bunker fish is drawing sharks closer to the shore, according to Gorman. This along with heightened surveillance, including 18 drones patrolling Long Island's state park beaches, has led to an increase in sightings, not an increase in the shark population.
But still, all the news of sharks has some swimmers, like beachgoer Jen Robbins, keeping their feet safely in the sand.
"I was born in 1968. So when 'Jaws' came out, I went to see it in the movie theater and it completely scared the life out of me. I would not go in the water for like 10 years after that. And now that there are actual sharks in the water, I probably won't any time soon," said Robbins.
Other swimmers say they will not let a few sand sharks dampen their Fourth of July fun.
"I'm going in right now with my grandson," said one beachgoer.
A total of eight shark bites were reported in the area last year. Experts advise that beachgoers to swim only when lifeguards are on duty.
